Scottish and British dough cat breeds are related. Scottish cats can be considered one of the offshoots of the British breed. But after the fold mutation took hold, mating between these animals was prohibited, and the difference between the Scots and the British became obvious.
From the history of breeds
British cats trace their history back to the beginning of the last century. In Great Britain, breeders bred fundamentally new cats by crossing various European shorthair breeds. The main difference between the British is their dense, thick wool, reminiscent of the fur of valuable fur animals. This texture is due to the fact that the guard hair and the undercoat are the same length. British cats are distinguished by their impressive weight, dense build and strong bones. They have round muzzles with strongly developed cheeks and small, set ears, not too long and rather thick tails. The color can be varied, but blue is especially popular.
In the 60s in Scotland, a kitten with strange drooping ears was found in one of the litters of a British cat. The owner did not discard the baby, but, on the contrary, decided to fix this mutation. As a result of systematic crossing, drooping ears were fixed. After a while, the breed was officially recognized and named "Scottish Fold".
However, a problem was discovered - it was impossible to knit lop-eared animals with each other - kittens were born weak, ugly, or even completely unviable. Therefore, British cats were involved in mating. Kittens with straight ears were recorded as British Shorthair, and fold-eared became Scottish. This practice continued until the 2000s, until finally, in 2004, it was banned. Today, purebred Scottish cats cannot have British ancestors, and all mating is carried out between fold-eared Scottish folds and straight-eared Scottish straights.
There is another variety of the Scottish breed - Highland Folds and Highland Straights. They are distinguished by their long hair, but otherwise fully comply with the standards of short-haired Scottish cats.
Differences between British and Scots
Small kittens of British and Scottish breeds can be difficult for an inexperienced person to distinguish. However, the specialist will immediately notice the difference. Little British people resemble teddy bears - they are chubby, plump, short-legged. Scots are more graceful. They are distinguished by a pretty "childish" face with large, perfectly round eyes and small ears.
The differences become more noticeable with age. By the age of three months, Scottish folds have their ears drooping. But straight-eared Scots don't look like British either. Their body is slimmer, their legs are longer, the short tail typical of the British is considered a defect, as are the overdeveloped cheeks. Adult Scottish cats are equal in weight to British female cats, they never reach the size of British producers.
British cats are a little phlegmatic, very restrained. Scottish people are more friendly and outgoing. Both breeds lend themselves well to education, are distinguished by good health and good appetite.
Differences are also noticeable in the texture of the coat. In Scottish cats, it is more silky, the undercoat is shorter than the guard hair, so the "plush" effect is not so noticeable. Adult Scottish Folds and Scottish Straights must keep the "baby face", which is one of the differences of this breed. The color of the eyes of the British is usually bright orange or copper, the iris of the Scots can have a different shade - it depends on the color of the coat. For example, black and white cats have light brown eyes.
